Toy Doll with Insertable Simulated Teeth

ABSTRACT

A toy doll with insertable teeth comprising: a toy doll figure, a pouch or compartment built into the doll to hold a child&#39;s real primary tooth until it is removed by the imaginary “tooth fairy” (understood to be an adult), specially-formed jaw pieces (upper and lower) with receptacles to receive simulated teeth, and specially-formed simulated teeth pieces that include a mechanical faster to allow for the one-time insertion of each tooth into the jaw pieces. The toy doll can be used with an evolving story media, that provides an imaginative and tangible conclusion to the “tooth fairy” tradition via a tangible physical representation that a child has given their expelled real primary teeth to the toy doll.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to provisional application U.S. Ser. No. 62/279,896 filed Jan. 18, 2016. Said application is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to children's toys and, more particularly, to a toy doll.

BACKGROUND

Currently there are a number of solutions that attempt to explain or expand on the fictional tooth fairy story. Some of these solutions attempt to provide a tooth fairy doll to which a child can give a lost real primary tooth, but these solutions fail to meet the needs of the industry because there is no device that provides for a doll that gains a tooth each time a child loses a real primary tooth and subsequently gives it to the doll. Such solutions limit a child's ability to interactively enjoy the doll and limit their imaginative development. Other solutions attempt to provide a doll for displaying a child's real primary teeth, but these solutions are similarly unable to meet the needs of the industry because the teeth are capable of being removed by the child and therefore are not of a design that permits the child to safely play with the doll without the choking risk of the real teeth being removed or otherwise becoming dislodged from the doll. Accordingly, such solutions are not well suited as a child's toy, but rather as a display case for the child's real primary teeth. Still other solutions seek to provide display cases for a child's real primary teeth, but these solutions also fail to meet industry needs because they are not suitable as they are not of a design that permits a child to give their teeth to a doll and experience the tangible representation in a toy doll that their primary tooth becomes part of the doll's anatomy. In addition, such display cases are not in the form of a doll that a child can play with. Finally, there are a number of solutions that provide a toy doll that is designed to resemble a character in a book so that a child can have a toy that is a representation of a character in the book, however, the doll does not have simulated teeth that can actually be inserted. These solutions fail to meet the needs of the industry because the illustrations in the book do not progress to match the changing appearance of the toy doll, thus limiting the ability to effectively tell an engaging story in which a character experiences changes in its physical appearance.

It would be desirable to have a device that provides an imaginative and tangible conclusion to the “tooth fairy” tradition, which creates the opportunity for a child to give their real primary teeth (once they have been naturally shed or otherwise extracted) to a fictional character that is in need of teeth. Furthermore, it would also be desirable to have a device that encourages in children the development of traits that may include compassion and helping those in need. Still further, it would be desirable to have a device that helps create an appearance that a child has given their real primary teeth to a toy doll, which helps develop the child's imagination. Even further, it would be desirable to have an interactive device that encourages a child to be engaged and interested in a book or other story media due to the changes experienced in both a toy doll that the child possesses and a depiction of that doll as a character in a children's book or other story media. Therefore, there currently exists a need in the industry for a device that creates a tangible physical representation that a child has given their expelled real primary teeth to a toy doll.

SUMMARY

The present invention advantageously fills the aforementioned deficiencies by providing a toy doll with insertable simulated teeth which can be used with an evolving story media, that provides an imaginative and tangible conclusion to the “tooth fairy” tradition via a tangible physical representation that a child has given their expelled real primary teeth to a toy doll.

The present invention is a toy doll with insertable teeth, which is made up of the following components: a toy doll figure, a pouch or compartment built into the doll to hold a child's real primary tooth until it is removed by the imaginary “tooth fairy” (understood to be an adult), specially-formed jaw pieces (upper and lower) with receptacles to receive simulated teeth, and specially-formed simulated teeth pieces that include a mechanical faster to allow for the one-time insertion of each tooth into the jaw pieces.

The jaw pieces are permanently affixed to the toy doll figure inside of the doll's mouth area, similar to human anatomy. The tooth pieces are designed to be inserted into the receptacles in the jaw pieces, with the mechanical fastener being inserted first. Only the mechanical fastener portion of a simulated tooth is inserted into the jaw receptacle, leaving the portion that resembles a tooth protruding from the jaw. Once the mechanical fastener portion of a simulated tooth is fully inserted into one of the receptacles in the jaw, the tooth is locked into place and cannot be removed through non-destructive methods or tooling.

The present invention may also have one or more of the following: The doll may be clothed or unclothed. The doll may be in any form such as an imaginary character, animal, or realistic figure. The doll may include a variety of accessories such as a toothbrush, hair comb, purse or handbag, backpack, toy wand, etc. The tooth pouch or compartment portion of the doll could be of a variety of designs, locations, and materials.

Optionally, the doll could be equipped with an internal sound mechanism that produces audible noises or sayings. Sounds could be triggered by either depressing or squeezing a button inside of the doll. Alternatively, sound could be triggered via a motion sensor or other external stimuli, such as inserting one of the simulated teeth into a receptacle in the jaw piece. In addition, the sound mechanism could have the capability to record audio and play it back.

The present invention device is unique when compared with other known devices and solutions because the present invention provides: an interactive toy doll with insertable simulated teeth. Additionally, a book or other story media with a storyline and illustrations that change as the book or other story media progresses may be used in conjunction with the doll to continually match the changing physical appearance of the toy doll. The doll, when used in conjunction with the book or other story media provide a fun interactive toy that goes through various phases from not having any teeth, to having some teeth, to having a full set of teeth; the doll could also provide the ability to thank the child for the gifted teeth via the built-in audio device and its prerecorded and custom recordable audio tracks.

The present invention toy doll is unique in that it is structurally different from other known devices or solutions. More specifically, the present invention is unique due to the presence of: specially-formed jaw pieces with receptacles to accommodate the insertion of simulated teeth; specially-formed simulated teeth with mechanical fasteners that allow the teeth to be inserted into the receptacles in the jaw pieces, but not removed without the aid of tools a young child would likely not be in possession of or capable of utilizing.

Furthermore, the process associated with the aforementioned invention is likewise unique and different from known processes and solutions. More specifically, the present invention process owes its uniqueness to the fact that it: provides a toy doll that gains a tooth each time a child loses a real primary tooth. In addition, the present invention could be utilized with a book or other story media that is unique in that the storyline and illustrations evolve to continually reflect corresponding and progressive changes in the physical appearance of the toy doll.

Among other things, it is an object of the present invention to provide a toy doll with insertable simulated teeth and evolving story media that does not suffer from any of the problems or deficiencies associated with prior solutions.

Further still, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device that encourages in children the development of traits that may include compassion and helping those in need.

Further still, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device that helps create an appearance that a child has given their real primary teeth to a toy doll, which helps develop the child's imagination.

The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are intended to be read in conjunction with both this summary, the detailed description and any preferred and/or particular embodiments specifically discussed or otherwise disclosed. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of illustration only and so that this disclosure will be thorough, complete and will fully convey the full scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a frontal view of a generic doll with a jaw pieces without teeth installed in the jaw pieces;

FIG. 2 illustrates a top view of the jaw pieces without teeth installed in the jaw pieces;

FIG. 3 illustrates a cross sectional view of the jaw pieces without teeth installed in the jaw pieces;

FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of the jaw pieces without teeth installed in the jaw pieces;

FIG. 5 illustrates a perspective view drawing of the preferred embodiment of the insertable tooth.

FIG. 6 illustrates a side view drawing of the preferred embodiment of the insertable tooth.

FIG. 7 illustrates a cross sectional view drawing of the preferred embodiment of the insertable tooth being inserted into a jaw piece receptacle.

FIG. 8 illustrates a cross sectional view drawing of the preferred embodiment of the insertable tooth fully inserted into a jaw piece receptacle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION AND PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention comprises a toy doll with components to facilitate the insertion of simulated teeth into the doll's jaw apparatus. Referring to FIG. 1, the device includes a toy doll FIG. 1 that has a specially-formed plastic upper jaw piece 2 and lower jaw piece 3 affixed inside of toy doll figure's mouth 4. The jaw pieces 2, 3 are be attached to the toy doll via mechanical fasteners and adhesives (the preferred embodiment), stitching, or other methods known to those skilled in the art.

Per FIG. 1, the toy doll is depicted as an imaginary monster. However, it is not intended that the form of the doll be limited to an imaginary monster figure. The doll may resemble any number of beings, including other children or animals. Additionally, the doll does not need to represent the entire body and could represent a partial being, such as only a head, or a head and torso.

The doll could be constructed as a plush toy, or of any other suitable material such as plastic, rubber, silicone, wood, etc.

Referring to FIG. 2, in an alternate embodiment, small holes 7 can be molded into the jaw pieces 2, 3 to accommodate the stitching material, which is nylon thread or other durable material known to those skilled in the art.

Referring to FIG. 3, in the preferred embodiment, the thickness of the jaw pieces 2, 3, will be slightly less than the length of the shanks 13 of the teeth fasteners 8 which will be described in more detail later in the detailed description.

The upper 2 and lower 3 jaw pieces include a number of receptacles 5 in which simulated teeth 6 can be inserted. In the preferred embodiment there are 10 such receptacles 5 in the upper jaw piece 2 and 10 receptacles 5 in the lower piece 3. This provides a total of 20 receptacles 5, which equals the number of real primary teeth that most children have. In the preferred embodiment, the receptacles 5 are rectangular in shape and are arranged in an arch such that each simulated tooth 6, when inserted, will face out from the jaw pieces 2, 3 similar to the arrangement of teeth in a human jaw. Twenty simulated teeth 6 will also be provided with the device; again equaling the number of real primary teeth that most children have. Though the teeth 6 are provided with the doll, they are not inserted into the doll's mouth at the time of purchase; rather, they are provided un-inserted in the packaging.

In the preferred embodiment the simulated teeth 6 are designed to resemble the various shapes of human teeth, and will be of varying shapes. There will be teeth 6 designed to look like both upper and lower versions of the following: central incisors, lateral incisors, cuspids, bicuspids, first molars, and second molars. The in the preferred embodiment teeth 6 are constructed of plastic, however, other suitable materials known to those skilled in the art, such as wood or rubber can also be utilized.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, each simulated tooth 6 will have a mechanical fastener 8 formed on the top or bottom of the tooth for an upper or lower tooth, respectively; the fastener 8 portion of each simulated tooth is located where the roots of a real tooth would normally be found. The fastener 8 portion will be roughly square in shape and will be of a split-peg design, creating a small gap 9 between the two halves or prongs 10 of the split peg. The tip of each prong 10 will be shaped like a barb. The barb is designed with an angled face 11 that begins as a fine point at the tip 12 of the fastener and grows to be slightly wider than the shank 13 of the prong 10. At the widest portion of the barb 14, the angled face 11 cuts back to the square shank 13 forming a 90-degree angle between the widest portion of the barb 14 and the shank 13, thus forming the lip of the barb. The width of the lower portion of the fastener 8 will be slightly smaller than the receptacles 5 in the jaw pieces 2, 3 to allow for insertion into the receptacles 5, but not so small that the teeth 6 could be rotated inside of the receptacles 5.

Referring to FIGS. 7 & 8, when the fastener 8 is inserted into one of the receptacles 5 in a jaw piece 2, 3, the angled face 11 of the two prongs 10 will force the two prongs 10 to compress together. This will reduce the overall width of the tip of the fastener 8 so that it can fit inside a receptacle 5 in the jaw 2, 3. Once the tips 12 of the fastener 8 have been fully inserted into the receptacle 5 of the jaw piece 2, 3, the barbs 14 on the prongs will be protruding completely through the jaw piece and will spring back into place due to the resilient properties of plastic or other suitable material. The barbs of each prong will then be seated against the backside 15 of the jaw pieces 2, 3, thus preventing the tooth from being removed. The receptacles 5 and the mechanical fasters 8 will prevent the simulated teeth 6 from being rotated once they have been inserted into the jaws 2, 3. Because the backside 15 of the jaw pieces 2, 3 are sewn inside of the doll 1, they are inaccessible to children, preventing them from squeezing the prongs 10 together and remove the simulated teeth 6 from the jaw pieces 2, 3.

The afore-described means for fasten simulated teeth 6 to a jaw piece 2, 3 using a split peg fastener 8 and rectangular receptacle 5 is the means the inventor considers the preferred embodiment of the invention. However, the inventor recognizes that there are other means one skilled in the art could substitute to achieve the same effect, including but not limited to screws, adhesives, and press fits.

Additionally, referring to FIG. 1, the toy doll may be constructed with a compartment that is to be used as a tooth pouch 16. The tooth pouch 16 is a small cloth pocket sewn into the doll's mouth. The pouch is sewn closed on all sides, except for the front, which faces the front of the doll. The front of the pouch has a cloth flap that covers the opening. The flap is of a shape and color that can visually resembles a tongue or uvula. The pouch is lightly squeezed on all sides except the front from the pressure exerted by fill material inside of the toy doll. This pressure, along with the uvula-shaped flap, allows for a child's real primary tooth to be temporarily contained inside of the tooth pouch 15 without falling out.

Additionally, the toy doll may include an audio device inside. The device is contained in a plastic housing and contains a speaker, microphone, circuit board and battery. In addition, a button is also included inside one of the feet or hands of the toy doll. The button is connected to the audio device circuit board via electrical wire. The audio device randomly plays one of a number of pre-recorded audio clips when the button is pressed. If the button is held for a period of several seconds, the audio device enters “recording” mode in which the user can record a personalized message. Once the recording has been made, it is added to the available audio clips that the device plays when the button is depressed. In addition, the jaw pieces include a sensor that can detect when a simulated tooth is inserted. The sensor is also connected to the audio device via electrical wire. When a simulated tooth is inserted, one of the audio recordings is automatically played.

The toy doll may be packaged include a removable articles of clothing, including pants, a shirt, shoes, and a hat. Additionally, the packaging may also include a handbag that contains a toy toothbrush and a simulated tube of toothpaste.

The toy doll may also be packaged with a book that tells a story in which the character initially has no teeth, which is also depicted in the book's illustrations. At a certain point in the book, the character gains its first tooth (as previously described, this occurs when a child loses their first real primary tooth and places it in the toy doll's tooth pouch.) After that point, the storyline of the book explains that the character has gained a tooth, and the illustrations it the book depict the character with one tooth. As the child continues to lose more real primary teeth, resulting in the toy doll gaining more simulated teeth, so too do the illustrations and storyline depict more teeth for the character in the book.

The toy doll and the book are meant to be used in conjunction in the following manner: 1. The story in the book explains to a child that a fictional character was born without teeth, which creates a problem for the character. The tooth fairy learns of the character's plight and informs him/her that she is going to bring him/her teeth from a child, since children have extra teeth that they don't need once they fall out. 2. A child loses a real primary tooth and places it in the tooth pouch. 3. When the “tooth fairy” (a parent or other adult) removes the child's real primary tooth from the tooth pouch (presumably while the child is sleeping), they insert the corresponding simulated tooth into the appropriate tooth receptacle in the plush toy's jaw (i.e., when the child loses their top left incisor, the top left incisor simulated tooth is added to the plush toy.) 4. The child wakes the next morning to find that the real tooth they gave the character is now part of the character's anatomy. The appearance is created that the child really did give their tooth to the plush character. 5. An additional section/chapter of the fictional book is read to the child in which the character now has a tooth, whereas before the child giving the toy doll a tooth the character had none. 6. The process of the child losing a tooth and the parent adding the corresponding simulated tooth is repeated. 7. The process is completed when the child has lost all of their real primary teeth, which results in the toy doll having a full set of teeth, thus solving its problem of being born with no teeth. In addition, the storyline and illustrations in the book reflect that the character has a full set of teeth. Alternatively the story could be abbreviated to a lesser number of teeth, so that the story does not linger on for years as the child loses all of their final baby teeth.

While the present invention has been described above in terms of specific embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to these disclosed embodiments. Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come to mind of those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains, and which are intended to be and are covered by both this disclosure and the appended claims. It is indeed intended that the scope of the invention should be determined by proper interpretation and construction of the appended claims and their legal equivalents, as understood by those of skill in the art relying upon the disclosure in this specification and the attached drawings. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A toy doll with insertable teeth, comprising: a toy doll with a mouth section; one or more simulated jaw pieces located in the mouth section of the toy doll, each jaw piece comprising an exposed upper side and a unexposed lower side; a plurality of receptacles located on the exposed upper side of the simulated jaw pieces, for receiving simulated teeth; a plurality of simulated teeth, each tooth comprising an exposed upper side and a unexposed lower side where the teeth are fastened to the receptacles of the simulated jaw pieces; means for fastening said simulated teeth to said receptacles located on the exposed upper side of the simulated jaw pieces; whereby the simulated teeth can be individually inserted and fastened to the simulated jaw pieces in the individual order in a child loses his or her teeth.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a tooth pouch located in the the doll's mouth, which is a small cloth pocket, sewn closed on all sides, except for the front side, which faces the front of the doll with a cloth flap that covers the opening.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an audio device located inside of the doll, the audio device comprising a speaker, microphone, circuit board and battery which, can record and playback pre-recorded or personalized audio clips.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3, further comprising sensors located in said simulated jaw pieces that can detect when a simulated tooth is inserted into said receptacles, said sensors connected to said audio device, whereby when a simulated tooth is inserted into the receptacle, an audio recording is automatically played.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said means jaw pieces further comprise small holes molded into the jaw pieces to accommodate stitching the jaw pieces into the mouth of the toy doll.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said means for fastening the simulated teeth to the receptacles are rectangular holes which protrude through the thickness of the jaw pieces and a split-peg fastener located on the unexposed lower side of said simulated teeth whereby when the split-peg fastener is fully inserted into the receptacles, barbs at the ends of the split peg fastener will be seated against the backside of the unexposed lower side of the jaw piece.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said simulated teeth are designed to resemble the various shapes of human teeth comprising central incisors, lateral incisors, cuspids, bicuspids, first molars, and second molars.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein each jaw piece comprises 10 said receptacles for simulated teeth. 